Coral Bay powers up

Northern Guardian
Wednesday 22/8/2007 Page: 3

CORAL BAY'S new $14million wind-over-diesel power project was switched on last Friday. The new Vergnet wind turbines can be lowered to the ground during extreme weather conditions. It is the first time they have been built anywhere in Western Australia.

Horizon Power have now assumed responsibility for power supplies in Coral Bay. Previously three privately owned and operated electricity generators serviced the area using a limited distribution network. The three wind turbines are part of Coral Bay's wind farm and power station, which was officially opened by Energy Minister Francis Logan last Sunday. The opening signalled the normalisation of power supplies in the area.

Horizon Power general manager generation and technical services Mike Laughton-Smith said the system was new and innovative. "There is nothing `normal' about this power station - it is absolutely unique," Mr Laughton-Smith said. Excess wind energy is stored in a massive spinning three-tonne steel flywheel at the power plant, which rotates in a vacuum on a magnetic bearing. The flywheel has enough inertia to keep it spinning for 12 hours unpowered.

The new power plant is continuously switchable between seven 320kW low-load diesel generators, three 275kW wind turbines, and the flywheel "battery". Mr Logan said Horizon Power teamed up with Verve Energy to build the wind farm and low-load diesel power station on the fringe of the town.

He said the wind turbines could generate up to 45 per cent of Coral Bay's electricity requirements. "The fact that the turbines can be lowered and raised as required in extreme weather conditions provides Verve Energy with a tremendous opportunity to use similar turbines in cyclone-prone areas." Mr Logan said Horizon Power had also constructed a new 22,000-volt underground power network for the distribution of the electricity in Coral Bay, using nine kilometres of cable.

Local member Vincent Catania said that the power station would provide reliable energy to residents and businesses in Coral Bay at the same tariff rates as people in metropolitan Perth. "We are now seeing regional WA lead Australia in revolutionary technology," Mr Catania said. "More importantly, this infrastructure is part of a move toward a sustainable future, one in which we are less reliant on fossil fuels." The wind turbines are expected to save 440,000 litres of diesel each year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 1,160 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Mr Logan said the use of the wind to generate power in the area was a significant contribution to renewable energy in WA. "This section of the WA coast is earning an international reputation for its pristine environment," Mr Logan said. "The use of renewable generating equipment and the construction of an unobtrusive underground power network provides 21st Century amenity without impacting on what people flock here to experience.

"The result is low environmental and visual impact infrastructure that will help sustain Coral Bay as the natural wonder we have come to love." The Coral Bay power project was supported by with $2m from the Australian Government through its Renewable Remote Power Generation Program.